It sounds remarkable that on October 26, 2025, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will present the management duo of a particularly energy-intensive company with the prestigious German Environmental Award from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). The award is intended to honor the clear course and entrepreneurial courage to set a new standard for sustainable business. Lars Baumgürtel and Dr. Birgitt Bendiek receive the award for their circular business model Planet ZINQ - and thus for an initiative that has long had an impact far beyond their own company.
As a group of hot-dip galvanizing plants, ZINQ is one of the most energy-intensive companies due to its processes and has been working intensively for many years on concepts and methods to minimize its environmental impact, i.e. its CO2 footprint. This also includes development work in the area of replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen. Planet ZINQ is not a single project, but the expression of a company-wide transformation process: from the decarbonization of process heat to cradle-to-cradle certified surfaces and the development of a digital product passport - all activities follow a clear guiding principle: ecologically effective, economically viable and technologically resilient solutions for a genuine circular economy.
Particularly noteworthy: ZINQ relies on standards that are open and transferable - especially for medium-sized companies in energy-intensive industries. The company is therefore not only providing a practicable blueprint for the transformation, but is also actively helping to create a marketable framework in which circular products and processes can - and should - exist.
How sustainability becomes a competitive advantage
The fact that a company from the hot-dip galvanizing industry is one of the winners of one of the most highly endowed environmental awards in Europe is a clear signal and recognition of above-average future-oriented entrepreneurial activity. But even without this award, ZINQ has already achieved a high level of visibility in recent years when it comes to ecological issues. At a time when ESG criteria are becoming relevant to the decisions of more and more customers and clients, this is increasingly becoming a clear competitive advantage. Sustainability is no longer just a moral stance - it is increasingly becoming a decisive argument.
Alternative to "business as usual"
Despite political pressure and social expectations, however, it is often easier to stick to familiar structures and only make improvements where absolutely necessary. In contrast, ZINQ shows how a future-oriented business model can be strategically developed and credibly established. With the transformation to circular value creation, ZINQ is not only securing its own resilience in a volatile market environment, but is also evolving from a high-emission energy consumer into an active part of the solution.